CEN13LA004

Factual narrative

On October 4, 2012, about 2010 central daylight time, a Boeing 717-200, N894AT, was struck by a catering truck while it was parked at the gate at General Mitchell International Airport (KMKE), Milwaukee, Wisconsin. There were no injuries to the deplaning 103 passengers and 5 flight crew. The airplane was substantially damaged. The airplane was registered to Wells Fargo Bank Northwest, NA, Salt Lake City, Utah, and operated by Southwest Airlines, Inc., Dallas, Texas, as Flight 725, under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 121 as a scheduled domestic passenger flight. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident, and an instrument flight rules flight plan had been filed and closed. The cross-country flight had originated from Hartsfield - Jackson Atlanta International Airport (KATL), Atlanta, Georgia. The airplane had arrived at gate C14 and passengers had started deplaning. A catering truck, owned by AirTran Airways and operated by Aerotek Aviation, approached the right front service door. The driver said he attempted to stop, applying the brakes 3 times. The truck did not stop and struck the airplane. After the accident, the driver of the truck found a sleeve of hot/cold cups under the brake pedal. The damage to the airplane was confined to the area of the production splice, a joint where the forward portion of the fuselage is mated to the midsection fuselage. This included fuselage stations 207, 218, 228. 235, and 250. The regularly scheduled domestic passenger flight arrived at its gate and passengers began deplaning. A catering truck approached the right front service door. The catering truck driver said he applied the brakes three times in an attempt to stop the truck before it struck the airplane. The truck driver subsequently found that a “sleeve of hot/cold cups” rolled under the brake pedal and obstructed its movement. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database Retrieved: 2026-02-12

NTSB Findings

FAA avdata. C = Cause, F = Factor.

• C Environmental issues-Physical environment-Object/animal/substance-Ground vehicle-Effect on equipment - C